Alone
by Rose Stetson
Summary: Filler scenes for "Stargate: Continuum" from Sam's POV. A surprise awaits her when she takes a mathematics professorship at a local university.
1. Unforseen Conflict

**Alone**

"_Sam! We have to keep moving." Mitchell said, helping her up as she faltered._

"_Why? If we're gonna freeze to death, this is as good a spot as any..." She shot back, bitterly._

_He looked around. "Nah...I don't like this spot."_

"_Cam, come on..." She groaned with full-body and spiritual weariness. "What's the point? There's no one around for hundreds of..." She spotted two figures in the distance. She pointed for Mitchell's benefit. "Who's that?"_

_They could save Daniel, she thought as she picked up the pace. _

"_Wait! Which one of you is Mitchell?" One of the figures asked as they found one another._

"_Jack O'Neill. Special Forces."_

_Her heart lightened as she pulled the scarf from her mouth. "We thought you were dead!"_

_He pulled his sunglasses down as he studied her. "Backatcha, ma'am."_

_She was surprised._

"_You recognize her?" Mitchell asked, surprised._

_Sam looked at him, almost thanking him for asking the question she'd been too afraid to ask._

"_Sure do."_

"_Sir, we gotta go back for Daniel."_

"_What we have to do is get you people off this ice." He announced as he made provisions for their rescue. "Mitchell, I don't know what you're doing in the Arctic with a dead astronaut..."_

_Dead astronaut? She asked, realizing that her assumptions had been royally incorrect. He didn't know her at all._

_-_

With a new pair of box-framed glasses perched on her nose, she sighed as she walked into the classroom. She was a mathematics professor at St. Paul College in Minnesota, teaching Introduction to Algebra through College Algebra. The GE math courses.

She set the briefcase down beside the desk with a sigh as she looked around. The hall would accommodate four hundred seats. She was down to teaching numbers instead of ideas. Absolutely forbidden to even postulate about the things she knew those numbers to mean.

"Dr. Foss?"

It took her a moment before she remembered that her cover name was Helene Foss. She turned. "Yes?"

"I was asked to bring your attendance roster."

"Wonderful, thank you." She said, managing a small smile as she accepted the papers.

"Welcome to St. Paul." The TA said with a warm, welcoming smile.

"Thank you." She said, struggling to return it.

She looked at her watch as the woman left. She still had ten minutes before her class began. Time on her hands was a bad thing, these days.

-

"_Go to the Gate..." She heard him say for the hundredth time in the deepest recesses of her memory._

"_Not without you." She reiterated again._

"_Go."_

_She knelt over Jack O'Neill, the man who'd captured her heart somewhere between their meeting in the Briefing room over ten years ago and the time that he'd proclaimed that he cared for her a lot more than he was supposed to._

_Jack O'Neill, the object of her girlish "happily ever after" fantasies, was dead._

_-_

She sat at the desk as the students began trickling in a few at a time. Life was so different from how it had been only three weeks before – at least for her...

Exploration through the galaxy, the occasional assignment to R&D, tackling some scientific project...

"Excuse me, Professor?" A voice asked, looking at her.

She looked up only to find a face that reminded her so much of Jack's staring at her.

Uncomfortable silence reigned for a moment before she shook her surprise off. "Yes?"

"You...you look like..."

"Samantha Carter?" She asked with a sigh. She'd gotten that stare so many times.

"The astronaut..." He nodded.

"I get that a lot." She said, mustering a smile. "But I'm not her. You'll see on your syllabus when it gets passed out that my name's not Samantha Carter."

"Oh...right." He said with a relieved smile. "I just got confused when I didn't see Dr. Gregory. He's the teacher we have on our class schedules."

"You're in the right place." She assured. "Dr. Gregory went on sabbatical while he tries his hand at a math proof. You're stuck with me."

"Great." He said with a grin as he took his seat.

She looked at her watch once more. It was time to start.

She stood in front of the podium, her attendance roll in hand.

"Welcome to MATH 1730, College Algebra." She called as she looked out over the faces of her students. "For the sake of making sure we have everyone here for the first day, I'll call roll, but next time, I'll just expect you to be here and to be on time. When I call your name, just raise your hand. If I don't call your name, visit the Registrar's office or check you class schedule to make sure you're in the right place."

She had one hundred students in this first class, she thought with a sigh. This was going to take forever.

"Christine Adams, Henry Baker..." She began. Each name passed quickly off her tongue, and in no time, she was at the "O" section. "Charles O'Neill." She called.

Suddenly, her breath was trapped in her lungs as she looked up at the sea of students. Sure enough, the student from earlier raised his hand.

Jack O'Neill's son was in her math class.


	2. Request

"_Okay, you're from Minnesota," Daniel began as he looked at the alternate version of their friend and leader.  
_

_Sam swallowed. This was going to be a fun roller coaster..._

"_Eleven years ago, your son accidentally shot himself with a loaded nine-millimeter he found in your closet..."_

"_Okay, stop it right there." Jack insisted. "My kid is fine. He's at home, and he's fine!"_

_Oh boy, she thought as she looked up in surprise._

_-_

Sam got home, and put her keys on the table in the hallway. She wanted to talk to Daniel. She needed to talk to Daniel.

Jack's son – Jack's live and well son – was in her class.

She reached for her cell phone, aching to dial the familiar telephone number as she realized once again that no one would answer to that number. At least, no one she knew.

There was a knock at the door, and she groaned. She didn't want to face another reporter – there had been too many "sightings" of Dr. Samantha Carter, fallen astronaut.

She walked over, and looked through the peephole. It was her handler. She sighed for a moment before she opened the door. "Hi."

"Hello. I've come to check and see how you're doing." The woman said, efficiently.

"I'm fine, Major Stringham," She said, swallowing. "Come in?"

The woman nodded, tersely, and Sam closed the door behind her.

"I understand you've found employment at St. Paul College." Stringham said, looking at her seriously.

"Yes. Mathematics department." She said, nodding. "I teach undergraduate algebra."

Stringham looked somewhat uneasy at the closeness with her "former" life.

"It wasn't on the list." She said, trying to keep the bite out of her voice.

"Of course." Stringham nodded. "I didn't mean to imply..."

"I want to talk to Daniel." She interrupted.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that."

"It's not about...that..." She insisted. "It's personal."

"I'm sorry, Miss Carter..."

Sam grimaced internally at the title. It's Colonel, she thought to herself.

"Look, I don't care how you make it happen." Sam continued. "I need to talk to him."

"About what?"

"My class."

"He's an archaeologist. You teach mathematics."

"And he's taught a few classes through the years. I was just looking for a little advice since an experienced professor like me can't just go and take a class about teaching."

"From what we know about you, you've also done some lecturing. You should be fine without his help." She countered.

Sam took a step toward the Major, so that her face was only a few inches from her own. "I need to talk to Daniel. Mitchell, at this point, I don't really care, but I need to talk to Daniel. Trust me, if I was causing trouble, I'd want to talk to them both."

Stringham inhaled sharply at the forceful tone Sam was using.

"Now, you can either give me his cell phone number and let me call him, or you can do a cloak-and-dagger routine where we each use disposable cell phones which you later throw into the ocean, but I'm going to talk to him."

Stringham swallowed. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you." Sam said, pulling away. She felt disgusted at herself for the level of desperation she'd just shown. She needed to talk to someone who wouldn't mistake her for a dead astronaut. She needed to talk to someone about her job. She needed to tell someone that her dead commanding officer's deceased son was sitting in her classroom, bringing up the painful memories that all thoughts of Jack O'Neill stirred within her.

She felt tears prick her eyes. She felt so alone.


	3. Phone

"_Daniel..." She whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. He'd died so many times before, and with Teal'c and Vala disappeared into the fabric of the space-time continuum and Jack dead, she couldn't let him just freeze to death here in this God-forsaken arctic circle._

"_Good-bye." He said, tears moistening his eyes as she hesitated._

_She swallowed down her tears. They'd only freeze on her face anyway. And then, she left._

_-_

"Miss Carter, open the door!" Her handler called.

Sam sighed as she opened the door. "Yes?"

A package was thrust into her arms. "You have one hour before I return. I will retrieve the package and dispose of it at that time."

Sam's brow furrowed as Stringham left. She closed the door, and opened the package. Her military instincts made her innately suspicious of the package, but she didn't have the luxury to second guess anything at this point. Even being blown up would be preferable to her living hell.

Inside the package lay one single cell phone and a card with typed instructions on it. "The number has been programmed as a single contact into the phone. You can only see the contact's name, and not the actual number itself. The phone will disconnect after 55 minutes of conversation, so keep it brief."

She tensed before she selected Byron Graham from the contact list. She pressed the "send" button, waiting for a response as her heart beat rapidly in nervousness.

"Hello?"

"Daniel?" She asked with a faltering voice.

"Sam!" He cried, surprised.

"It's good to hear your voice." She admitted.

"And yours. How are you?"

"I'm...surviving..." She managed.

"Yeah. Me too. What are you doing these days?"

"I'm teaching algebra at a college."

"Sounds like it's boring."

"I wish." She whispered.

"What do you mean?" He asked, surprised. "Sam, why are you calling?"

"Charlie O'Neill's in my class."

"THE Charlie O'Neill?"

"He's the spitting image of the General." She said, affirmatively.

He was silent for a moment. "That's got to be hard for you..."

"You're telling me."

"Does he know who you are?"

"You mean, Samantha Carter, the dead astronaut?" She asked with a harrumph. "He's a bright kid. I think he knows something's up."

"So, what are they calling you?"

"Helene Foss."

"Helene Foss?" He asked, skeptically.

"Oh yeah, Byron Graham..." She said with a sigh. "I should have gone with that science book editor position I almost took. Then, I wouldn't get so many of these weird looks."

"You're telling me." He said with a sigh. "Everyone looks at me like I'm this...veteran who lost a leg in a war we're not fighting."

"I can't do it, Daniel." She managed after a moment. "I've been forbidden to do any of the things I used to do. Mathematics is the ONE thing I can still do that I'm actually in any way qualified to do."

"Tell me about it. I think I could teach French somewhere if I wanted to...or maybe translate for a doctor or nurse in an Emergency room."

There was silence for a moment, but she inhaled. "I keep waiting for Ba'al to attack..." She admitted.

"Me too."

"And the terrible thing," she whispered softly. "Is that I want him to."

"Because that's the only way we can get home..." He said, knowing how she felt.

"Or stop this nightmare from happening in the first place." She finished.

Daniel sighed as he quoted his departed friend. "Indeed."


	4. Visitor

It was Saturday morning, and instead of getting ready for an off-world mission, or even getting ready so that she'd be prepared to handle an emergency at Area 51, she was sitting down with a cup of coffee in one hand and a stack of papers in another. With her hair pinned up in a clip and her glasses on the kitchen table, she bent over the stack of ungraded math assignments. Perhaps she could have found a TA willing to do the menial labor of going through each student's math with a red pencil, but she was so used to doing more than this that she almost welcomed the tediousness of the grading as a distraction from her boredom with this life.

It was the closest thing she'd ever get to checking the formulas on a physics problem that she would ever get in this alternate world.

She was on the second half of her grading when a knock on the door disrupted her concentration. She sighed as she stood, picking up her glasses from the kitchen table. "Coming!"

As she opened the door, her eyes widened. Jack O'Neill was standing, in jeans and a t-shirt, on her front porch. "Sir..." She said, instinctively.

"Dr. Foss." He said, clearly not surprised to see her on the other side of the door.

"May I help you?" She asked, swallowing down her nervousness.

"I want to know why you're my son's mathematics professor."

She inhaled sharply as she opened the door more fully. "Would you like to come in?"

He stepped in, recognizing the sensitivity of the situation.

"Can I get you something to drink? This story may take a while..." She asked, closing the door.

"This isn't a social call, ma'am." He said, seriously.

"I know." She said, turning to face him. "And believe me, I didn't know your son was going to be in my class. I didn't even know you were going to be here. The Air Force dropped me off, and told me this was my new place."

"I don't want Charlie getting mixed up in this..."

"This..." She prompted. "This what?"

"Top-secret military stuff."

"What do you want me to do?" She asked, looking at him with honesty in her eyes. "If I ask to have him removed from my class, they'll want to know why. And since I can't tell them that I'm Samantha Carter from an alternate timeline, they'll probably assume that your son isn't the kind of student they want at the college."

"Look, I don't know how it's going to happen, but I want you out of my kid's life."

"For twelve weeks, I will be grading his assignments and his tests, and I will be seeing him in class. That's all." She countered. "I'm a math teacher, so he won't even have to come and consult me about my expectations for any written assignments."

He was silent, and she sighed. "Look, as far as I can tell, he's a great kid, and I would hate for anyone to have even the slightest suspicion that he isn't. If he drops the class, I won't object or even complain, but please," She felt tears moisten her eyes which embarrassed her. She didn't even know the kid, and the Jack O'Neill who stood before her would think she was being melodramatic, but the prospect of hurting Jack and his son in any way made her heart ache. "Don't make me jeopardize his future," she begged.

He stared at her. "Who are you?" He asked, incredulously.

She tensed as she looked back up at him, waiting for some explanation about what he meant.

"I don't know you. My son doesn't know you – not really, anyway – and yet, you're so concerned with how complying with my request will affect him..."

She inhaled slowly. "In my...world..." She began. "You and I were...friends...and I knew that even though you'd "rejoined" society, I suppose, after Charlie's death, it would have meant the world to you for him to be alive and well enough to have the opportunity for a college education."

She could see the skepticism in his eyes, and she grimaced. "I know you don't buy that story, and I admit, if I hadn't lived through it, I'd probably be more than a little skeptical about it myself. But in an effort to give you some peace, I won't talk to your son about anything more than the class assignments, and I will step down as professor if you'd rather at the end of the semester."

"You'd do that for my peace of mind..." He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Like I said, we were friends in my world." She said, sincerely. "And you...Jack...O'Neill saved my life more than once there. Call it karma. Or whatever the hell you want to call it." She said, defeated. "But I've left my life behind me to join your world with no choice of my own. I can't call my friends without feeling like I'm on Mission: Impossible, I can't continue the research I was working on in my world because the military has forbidden it and because I keep getting strange looks from people who wonder if I'm a dead astronaut, and I lost the man I love before I even came here." She looked up at him, trying to hide the tears that welled up in her eyes. "Trust me, this isn't exactly a picnic for me either."

He was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

He inhaled. "My son did shoot himself eleven years ago, like your friend suggested. But he survived."

She watched him closely, listening as he unfolded his tale.

"My wife, Sara, was understandably upset. Once Charlie was settled and after he'd recovered, she asked me for a divorce. She was in an accident on the way to sign the papers. After two years in a coma, the doctors declared her brain-dead, and we had to pull the plug."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." She said, softly.

"I get...a little overprotective." He admitted. "But that's only because..."

"He's the only family you have." She finished. "Believe me, I understand that. In my world, I only have my brother, his wife and kids left. My mom died when I was fifteen, and my dad died three years ago."

"You said you lost the guy you were in love with?" He asked after a moment.

She swallowed. "It was...complicated..."

"It usually is." He said, sagely.

She stared into the eyes of the man who was identical to her lost love. "Truer words were never spoken."

He studied her for a moment, and she squirmed under the weight of his gaze. "What?"

"Helene Foss," he said, softly. "You're a very beautiful woman."

She inhaled sharply before she managed a smile. "Thank you."

He bit his lip as he looked at the door. "I should go..."

"Probably." She agreed.

He took a few steps toward the door before he turned. "You don't need to worry about Charlie dropping your class. I'm not going to say anything."

She managed a small half-smile. "Thank you."

"Maybe you wouldn't be such a bad influence on my son." He said, returning the smile before he left.

She tensed as she sat back down to her papers. Life was getting more and more complicated the longer she stayed here in this timeline.


	5. Coffee

_Everything was a blur until they made it through the Stargate to the unfamiliar cargo hold._

_Why had she kept him at arm's length for so long? They could have been discreet, they could have found some way to bend the rules to their advantage, she could have become a civilian contractor like Daniel..._

"_Carter, what's going on?"_

_She barely heard the words Cam said._

_He was gone. He was really gone. And he'd left her behind._

"_Sam!"_

"_I don't know..." She managed, hoping that he would leave her alone._

"_Look, I know what happened back there," Cam said, approaching her. "But we need you in the here and now. Wherever that is, okay?"_

_She saw in his eyes that he knew exactly why O'Neill's death had been particularly hard on her, and she looked down at the ground in shame as she tried to thrust the embarrassment of her transparency out of her mind._

"_Okay..."_

_-_

With all of the books with any word written by Einstein such as _Relativity : The Special and the General Theory_, _The Principle of Relativity_, _Ideas and Opinions_, _The World as I See It_, _A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion_, and _Evolution of Physics_ in her hands, Sam walked over to the Barnes and Noble cafe and placed the books on one of the tables.

With a sigh, she walked up to the counter. "One venti breakfast blend," she ordered, reaching into her wallet.

"Dr. Foss?"

She turned in surprise to see Jack standing behind her in line. "Hi. And it's Sa..." She began before inhaling and correcting herself. "Helene." She grimaced slightly. "I'm sorry...I don't know what to call you...I don't know your rank here..."

"Just call me Jack." He said with a chuckle.

"Ma'am?" The barrista asked, interrupting their conversation. "That will be three seventy-five."

"Oh, right." Sam said, turning as she opened her wallet.

"Allow me." Jack said, reaching over and putting a five-dollar bill on the counter.

"You didn't need to do that." She said, somewhat embarrassed as the barrista got his change together. "I'm a math professor. If I can't afford a cup of coffee, then I'm in real trouble..." She tensed, nervously. "And...I'm babbling..."

He chuckled. "It's okay. This was my attempt at apologizing for the other day."

"You don't have anything to apologize for." She assured.

"Yes, I do." He said, seriously. He looked over at the barrista. "Same as her, please."

"Three seventy-five."

He dropped another five down before he looked back at Sam. "Charlie's nineteen. I don't need to intimidate his teachers anymore."

She smiled appreciatively as she got her coffee. "Maybe it was a little over-the-top."

"A little?" He asked, skeptically as he waited for his own.

"Okay...a lot." She grinned.

"Is that your table?" He asked, motioning to the book-laden cafe table.

She nodded. "Yep...I have no life..."

"Einstein, huh?" He asked as he accepted his disposable cup from the barrista.

"Sometimes I want to know there's a reason behind the numbers." She said, inhaling sharply as she remembered the life she'd been ordered to bury.

"If this is your passion, why aren't you involved in physics?" He asked, sitting across from her.

"Because the Air Force didn't want the world to stare at me the way you did when you first saw me." She said with a crooked smile.

"I'm sorry about that. I was surprised...and more than a little alarmed..."

"No worries." She assured. "I probably would have done the same if our roles had been reversed."

"You would have been nicer."

"Not necessarily." She said, studying him with a contented half-smile.

"So...because you're forbidden to use this stuff professionally, you're using it personally..." He said, looking back at the books.

"Pretty much." She said with a grin as she took a sip of coffee.

"What'd you do? Pull every book written by Einstein off the shelves?"

"And the ones with only exerpts." She laughed.

He snorted as he lifted his cup to his lips again. She followed suit, watching him with her eyes as she took a sip. Jack O'Neill was sitting in front of her, sharing a cup of coffee and laughing. It was almost as if every dream she'd ever dreamed in her life had come true. "What are you doing in a bookstore on a Saturday morning?" She asked after a moment.

"Having coffee with a beautiful woman." He said with a charming smile.

She couldn't help but smile at the compliment.

"And...I ran out of reading material. I thought about going to the library, but they don't have coffee, and they frown on you writing in the margins."

"What book are you getting?"

"Don't know yet." He admitted. "Still working on that one..."

"What have you read recently?"

"War and Peace, actually."

"Wow. Lofty."

He shrugged. "I don't get a chance to read too often, but when I do, I want to know it's something worthwhile."

"Maybe you could give me a recommendation on some fiction," she suggested softly. "I don't read a lot of it, but with my new life here in Minneapolis, and with my fantastic fireplace, maybe I should start..."

"After you get through the Einstein?"

"I could probably recite everything in these books right now." She laughed. "My work used to be based on a lot of Einstein's theories of relativity and universal gravitation."

"Then why get the books?"

"I'm a little homesick, I suppose." She said with a minor shrug. "I mean, I...lost all of these books in the move here, and I just want to be able to pick them up if I want to."

"Security blanket of sorts..."

"I guess so." She said, nodding.

"Like me and my "Gulliver's Travels"." He said with a smile. "It was my first classic novel."

"I used to have a first edition of Newton's "Principia"." She said with a small smile. "My dad gave it to me when I graduated with my doctorate from Berkley. I think that's my real security blanket."

"And you lost it when you moved here..."

She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it.

"Anyway, novels...for you..." He said, thinking. "Well, my late wife used to love Jane Austen."

"As in _Pride and Prejudice_?" She asked with a slightly disgusted look on her face.

"I'll take that as a no," he laughed.

"Sorry – the movie was a no-go for me."

"Movie?" He asked, confused.

"With Keira Knightley..."

"Who?"

"Never mind..." She said, shaking her head.

"So, no Jane Austen." He said, checking again.

"Probably not." She said, shaking her head with a small half-smile.

"Hm...how do you feel about Sherlock Holmes?"

"I could go for that." She admitted, nodding.

"Excellent." He said with a grin. "Then I suppose we'll have to get you a collection of Sherlock Holmes novels."

"I guess we shall." She said, taking a sip of her coffee as she looked up at him with a flirtatious look in her eye.

"So, Helene," he began, sitting back in his chair easily.

"Yes?"

"How does a guy get in touch with you again?"

"Usually on the telephone." She said, wryly as she continued to play the flirtatious game they'd started. "But sometimes, they show up on my front porch."

He grinned. "Touche."

She inhaled before taking a pen from her purse and a napkin from the dispenser. She quickly wrote down seven digits. "It's a local number." She said, offering it to him.

He accepted it before he looked back up at her. "And, if I may be so bold, how would a guy ask you to dinner on Friday night?"

"Pretty much the way you just did." She said, seriously. "Only, he'd add a time and a place to meet her."

"Seven. I'll pick you up."

She inhaled softly as she studied him with discriminating eyes. "Sounds great." She finally managed.

"Until then." He said with a smile as he stood.

"Until then..." She said, swallowing. This was probably a bad idea, she thought as she watched him leave.


	6. Date

With her wet hair wrapped in a towel, Sam stared at her wardrobe as she rubbed robe-covered arms. She could really use some help choosing something to wear, but this world didn't have a Cassandra. She'd probably died of starvation after Nirrti's attack since they hadn't been there to save her.

Her heart ached at the thought.

She was going on a date with an alternate version of the man she already loved, and she couldn't think of anything but the fact that her best friend's daughter – the closest thing she had to a daughter of her own, in fact – had never left her desolate planet was the only thing on her mind.

The irony was astounding.

Focus, Carter. He'll be here in an hour, and you still don't know what to wear, she told herself.

She wanted to call Daniel again. Or Mitchell. She wanted to ask if she was doing the right thing.

"I'm Helene Foss." She said, looking at herself in the mirror. "Not Samantha Carter. I teach mathematics. Professors can date anyone they like. The only person who's off limits is the president of the university. And in your case, that's a woman – so not a problem."

She released her breath in a puff of air. "He's not your commanding officer. He's just the father of one of your students."

Which is probably also a little unethical, she thought to herself.

"But a lot less noticeable." She justified.

She looked back at the closet. What she wouldn't give to know where they were going and what they were doing.

Dinner. That's all she knew. Which could mean something casual like O'Malley's or something more sophisticated like an Indian restaurant...

Jack had terrible heart burn after he ate spicy food, she reminded herself. They'd never go to an Indian restaurant.

Finally, she reached for a brown skirt. It was a knee-length suede skirt which flattered her figure with a slight a-line. At least the woman at the store had said so. To tell the truth, it felt like forever since she'd worn a skirt that wasn't the bottom half of her dress blues. A simple silken blouse which accented the soft feminine curves of her shape was paired with a simple, yet tailored, leather jacket which provided the perfect opportunity to seem casual by leaving it on, and to elevate the class of her outfit by removing it. An uncomplicated bronze-colored stiletto sandal would pair nicely with the ensemble, she decided.

She looked at the clock. She had forty-five more minutes. It was time to hurry.

-

It was exactly seven o'clock, Sam realized as she looked at the watch she'd just fastened onto her wrist. She looked from it to the mirror on the vanity. Her hair was down around her shoulders, and she was wearing golden hoop earrings. Her makeup was gold-toned as well. It had turned out fairly well.

The doorbell rang, and Sam inhaled as she stood.

_"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" She asked as she opened the door, having shoved Orlin into the dining room._

_"We brought pizzas and a movie." Jack said with a grin._

_"Star Wars." Teal'c announced, excitedly. As excitedly as a Jaffa ever got, she corrected._

_"He's seen it, what? Eight times?" Jack asked, looking at the alien._

_"Nine." He corrected._

_"Nine times." Jack returned with a grin. "If Teal'c likes it, it's got to be ok."_

_She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You've never seen Star Wars?"_

_"Well, you know me and sci-fi." He shrugged. "Come on, we never just get to hang out, so I thought we'd…"_

_"Uh, Sir," She began, nervously. "As much as I, ah…"_

_"Carter." Jack said, taking a step toward her as he tried to see inside the house. "Do you…already have company?"_

_She managed a nervous smile. "Kind of."_

_"A date?" He prodded._

_She laughed somewhat uncomfortably. "I can understand why you might assume that I didn't have plans."_

_"Don't worry about it. We'll find something else to do." He said with a look on his face that made her wonder if he was genuinely pleased that she had a so-called date._

_"I'm really sorry, I mean this is a surprise, very unexpected." She said, shaking her head._

_"Well good for you. Have fun."_

_"Thank you."_

_He handed her the box of pizza and took the movie off the top. "Have a pizza…and fun."_

She shook the memory from her mind as she opened the door. On the stoop stood Jack O'Neill who held a modest bouquet of fuschia lilies in a clear crystal vase in his hands. He turned from where he'd been looking at the yard, and she studied his attire. She'd dressed appropriately as he was wearing a pair of nice khakis, a red button-down collar shirt, and a leather jacket of his own.

"Hi." She said with a small smile.

"Hi." He said with a grin. He handed the flowers to her. "These are for you. I didn't know what you liked, so I figured I'd go for symbolism instead."

"Symbolism?" She asked, confused.

"A little off the beaten path, but just as lovely as all the other flowers in the garden." He said with a charming smile.

She felt her heart leap into her throat. "Thank you," she said, graciously as she accepted the flowers. "Come on in while I put these in the kitchen."

He stepped into the house, and she quickly walked into the kitchen.

"You know, I never said it the other day, but you have a nice house."

"Thank you." She said, returning from her short errand rather quickly.

"And you look stunning." He assured.

"No better than you." She said with a soft blush.

He shrugged with a pleased smile. "Charlie picked it out for me."

"He's got good taste." She said with a small smile.

"He's the only one really active in the dating community right now."

"I'm not particularly active myself." She admitted, somewhat sheepishly. "It's kind of embarrassing, but this is the first date I've had in a while."

"I won't judge if you won't." He teased.

"You've got yourself a deal." She said with a wry smile.

"You ready to go?" He asked, motioning to the door.

She nodded with a small smile. "Yes, Jack, I am."

-

"Where are we going, exactly?" Sam asked, looking over at her date as they turned from the highway onto a dirt road.

"A special place I like to go to sometimes..." He said, looking over with a small smile.

Sam inhaled softly as she started to see some familiar foliage. He was taking her to the cabin.

_"This is great." She murmured as she sat in the campstyle folding chair beside Jack with her line in the water._

_"I told ya!" He said with a knowing smile._

_"I can't believe we didn't do it years ago." She said, shaking her head._

_"Yes, well, let's not dwell." He said, offering her a small smile of friendship with the possibility of more – assuming that the conditions improved in time._

"Something on your mind?" Jack asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Nothing." She said, shaking her head.

"You sure?"

She sighed softly. "Memories. That's all."

"Why don't you share them?" He invited, kindly.

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Okay." He said with a small shrug.

She should tell him, she thought to herself before she gathered up some more courage. "The guy...that died before I came out here...he had a cabin. He loved the woods."

"I should tell you now," Jack said, looking over at her. "I have a cabin, and I was planning on taking you there."

"I know." She said almost without thinking about it.

"You know?"

She swallowed. "It was either that or you were going to take me to a lake to go skinny-dipping..." She improvised, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, I do have a pond." Jack said with a wry chuckle.

Sam managed a bittersweet smile as she looked over at him.

"Besides, it's too cold for skinny-dipping. Maybe in August, but October in Minnesota?" He asked, shaking his head. "No way."

She chuckled softly as she studied him discreetly. He looked so much like the Jack O'Neill she knew and cared for, but he was so different. Having Charlie in his life for so much longer in this timeline had softened him considerably.

He pulled up to the familiar cabin before he looked over at her. "Here we are. My cabin."

"It's charming." She said, offering him a smile of approval.

"Thanks." He said with a sentimental smile. "My grandfather built it, and left it to me after he died."

"You must have been close to him." She said, intuitively.

He nodded. "He was a good guy."

She smiled affectionately. "With a grandson as great as you, I don't doubt that."

He turned a grateful smile to her. "Let's go." He said, opening the car door before he hurried around to the other side to get hers for her.

"Thank you." She said, accepting his proferred hand as she stepped out of the car.

"It's not much, I know, but I like it." He said as they walked toward the front door.

"It's heartwarming." She assured. "Feels like home."

"Yeah." He said, almost surprised to find how much she understood about his feelings for the place.

"I can see why you love it here." She admitted. "It's peaceful."

He nodded. "Yeah."

She stood there, looking at it for a moment before he motioned to the door. "Wanna come in? Dinner should be ready..."

"Sure." She said, following him.

The scent that filled the air of the log cabin made her taste buds salivate in anticipation. "Smells amazing."

"Thanks. That's the beauty of having a Honey-Baked Ham just around the corner from the office."

"Office?" She asked, surprised.

"I'm actually an Air Force recruiter who's occasionally invited to coordinate a training exercise like the one you and your friends interrupted."

"Oh." She said, somewhat surprised.

"What?"

"In...my world, you were...an Air Force general who worked at the Pentagon." She said, swallowing. "For a year before that, you had led the command where we were stationed. And for the seven years before that, you had led our team."

"Seven years as a team?" He asked, surprised. "With all of you on it?"

"Not Mitchell. He took my place after I was TAD in Nevada."

"Nevada?"

She nodded. "I was working on some technological applications of the things we'd learned up until that point."

"Hm..." He said, nodding. "And I became a general?"

"When we left you, you were a Major General." She said, nodding.

"Cool." He said with a grin.

She swallowed as she nodded. "Yeah."

He retrieved the ham from the oven where he'd been keeping it warm, and set it down on the table. "Hey, can you get the matches? They're over by the fireplace."

She nodded as she walked over to the fireplace. The pictures on the mantle caught her eye, and she paused for a moment. There were pictures of Jack and Charlie everywhere, and it made her eyes water slightly. She could never imagine the pain of losing a child; she couldn't even truly fathom the joy of having a child in the first place as she'd never had any of her own.

"Something wrong?" He asked from behind her.

"I just can't get over how different this world is from the one I left." She admitted as she touched the picture gently.

He studied her for a moment. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm the one you keep talking about?" He asked, softly,.

She swallowed as she looked over at him. "Because you were."

"Ah. So, you and I..."

"Not officially." She said, shaking her head. "Not with the regulations such as they were."

"Right."

"But sometimes you can't help who you fall in love with, right?" She asked with a small sigh.

"Don't know. Only fell in love once. And that was pretty remarkable."

"Sara was a special woman to have captured your heart." She acknowledged. "And to have helped raised a son like Charlie."

"Did you ever meet her in your world?"

"Once." She said, nodding. "In the first year of the program. A sentient energy crystal took his form and tried to "heal" his pain. It tried to bring Charlie back, and he started at Sara's house."

"Wow."

She nodded. "It wasn't exactly easy for the General, but he still loved Sara, and he helped her recover from seeing the energy version of himself and the energy version of Charlie."

"Sounds about like what I would have done in his place."

"Yep." She said, looking back at him before she retrieved the matches. "Got them."

"Good. Because we're on a time schedule." He said, hurrying back to the dining room table with the cream colored table cloth, nice dinner and two candlesticks set on it.

_"It was our anniversary," she overheard the alternate Samantha Carter whisper just hours before they sent her back through the mirror to face her demons._

She tensed.

"Helene?"

She didn't react for a moment before she remembered he was talking to her. "I'm fine." She assured.

"You sure?"

"Yes, Jack, I'm sure." She said as she shook the memories from her mind. She could indulge in them tomorrow with a bottle of wine and a journal. Until then, she was on a date which she would do her best to enjoy. Her heart fell. Even if her date couldn't muster a single "Carter".


	7. Stars

"Dinner was lovely." Sam assured as she wiped her lips with the napkin on her lap.

"I'll pass that onto the clerk at the store." He said with a tiny wink as he took her plate from the table.

Sam chuckled. "You do that."

He returned to the table, and gently blew out the candles. "Come on," he invited when he'd finished. "I have something I want to show you."

"Okay." She said, somewhat confused, as she took his proffered hand.

He led her out the screen door, and to the blanketed spot only a few feet away. She inhaled deeply as she saw the telescope sitting there. "Star-gazing." She whispered, looking over at him.

"I figured you'd want to see at least a few of the stars you'd been to. Even if you couldn't go back."

"Actually...only a handful of the stars visible from Earth have stargates on them." She whispered, overcome by emotion. She looked up into the sky, trying to blink away her tears.

"I'm sorry he's not here." He said, looking over at her.

She swallowed as she looked back over at him. "He didn't like me at first, and truth be told, I didn't like him much either..."

"I have a hard time believing that anyone could dislike you." He said, giving her a small half-smile.

She smiled gratefully. "You didn't like me at first." She reminded.

"I didn't know you." He parried back. "And the more I get to know, the more I want to know."

She swallowed as he stepped toward her.

"Are you sure about that?" She asked, looking down for a moment.

"Yes."

"Because I'm the woman who was suggesting you and your superiors let me rewrite the time-space continuum so that I could go home..."

"I know." He said, stopping only a few inches away from her.

"I'm from another world."

"Well, you know...Men are from Mars and all that..." He said with a shrug.

She released an unexpected laugh as she looked up more seriously. "You're sure you want this?"

"I'm a simple man, Helene."

She bit the inside of her cheek. She wanted to beg him to call her Samantha, Sam, or Carter. She didn't want to be Helene Foss anymore. She didn't want to be a math professor. She wanted to live the life she'd been born to live.

"I said something wrong, didn't I?" He said, noticing the change of her expression.

"It's not you." She assured. "It's...this whole...thing..."

"The fact that I'm not your Jack O'Neill?"

She shook her head. "Not just that. It's...being Helene Foss. It's being a mathematics professor. It's...not getting to see my friends."

"Look, Sam." He said, using her given name. "You're stuck here, right?"

She nodded.

"Don't you deserve a little rest after all you've done for your world? Don't you deserve a normal life like everyone else?"

"That's just it, Jack." She said, looking at him seriously. "For me, this...this isn't normal."

"You'd rather be galavanting across the universe, pining for your commanding officer, instead of teaching mathematics and finding some solace in the arms of someone who could very well care deeply for you if given the opportunity."

He had a point.

"I'm sorry." She said, shaking her melancholy mood from her mind. "You're right. I'm spoiling this for you. And for me."

"Never said you were spoiling it for me." He said, seriously. "But I didn't want you to miss out on something I think could be really great because you were afraid..."

"You already know me better than you think you do." She assured, somewhat affectionately.

"Do I?"

She nodded before she looked back at the telescope. "So...stars?"

"Stars." He said with a smile.

This timeline's Jack O'Neill may be different than hers, but this one had some endearing qualities as well.


	8. Lunch

_Several weeks later:_

"Don't forget the test next week," Sam announced to her class as they finished reviewing the chapter. "If you have any questions as you study for the test, feel free to come by my office, and I'll help you work through your question. Have a good weekend."

She stepped away from the podium and began to gather up her papers and computer, placing them in her laptop briefcase.

The students quickly filed out of the classroom while a few stragglers approached her with questions.

It was only a few minutes before she was able to return to her office. A familiar gray-haired man stood outside her door, and she smiled softly. "Hey, stranger," she greeted as she walked up to the door.

"Dr. Foss." He said with a grin as he took her briefcase from her. She unlocked the office door, and opened the door, inviting him inside.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she closed the door.

"I thought that maybe I could surprise you and take you to lunch." He said, setting her briefcase down.

"That would be great." She admitted with a small smile.

"Cool." He said with a grin.

"I don't have another class for two hours, so I'm yours." She said as she leaned in and kissed his lips gently.

"Perfect." He murmured as he nipped at her lips once more.

"How long do you have for lunch?" She asked as he pulled away.

"I have the day off, so I'm all yours." He said as he opened the door to her office for her.

"I like the sound of that." She admitted with a grin.

He chuckled appreciatively as he waited for her to leave. "After you."

She stepped out of the office and locked it behind her. "So, where to?"

"Anywhere you want to go."

"Hm..." She said with an amused smile. Suddenly, something came to her mind, and she looked over. "Actually, I've got something I've been wanting to do for a while."

"Okay." He said, curiously.

"I'll drive." She said with a mischievous grin.

-

"I like your ideas." He said, gently bumping her shoulder with his own as they walked next to the water lily collection outside of the Tropical Encounters exhibit at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory.

"Thank you. I'm fairly fond of them myself." She teased.

In an impetuous gesture the likes of which only Jack O'Neill could do justice, he reached over and took her hand and pulled her in close to him.

She inhaled softly as she looked up into his eyes.

"So...water lilies..."

"Symbolism, Jack." She said, sharing a tender glance with him. "Symbolism."

He grinned as he gently tucked a strand of her long blond hair behind her ear. "It's really a beautiful view, Helene."

"You're not talking about the lilies, are you?" She whispered, feeling weak at the knees at his closeness.

He snickered. "No."

"I'm usually so logical," she said, blushing as she regained her senses. "But you...you make me feel so..." As if she was trying to prove her point, she was unable to come up with an accurate description of her feelings.

"Backatcha." He said with a grin as he let his finger glide across her cheek. He paused for a moment before he looked at her. "I love you, Helene."

Sam looked up at him. "I...I...love you too, Jack."

He smiled gently as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Dad?"

Sam pulled away from Jack instantly as he turned to look at his son. "Charlie..." He said, surprised.


	9. Charlie

The walk to a nearby delicatessen for lunch was long and tense one in Sam's opinion. Jack had taken her hand into his as they walked, and she could feel Charlie's disapproving glance on the gesture.

"Helene? The usual?" Jack asked as they reached a table.

"Please." She said, nodding.

"Charlie?"

"Not hungry." The young adult grunted.

Sam tensed as Jack shrugged. "All right then...I'll be right back."

Sam inhaled deeply as she looked at the surly young man sitting across from her. "So you like the Conservatory?" She asked, trying to engage him in harmless small talk.

"It was an assignment for my Ecology class. Kind of like I was going to study for your math test."

She smiled uncomfortably as she took the hint that she needed to be quiet.

"So, you're the girlfriend." He said, sitting back so that he could study her.

"I'm the girlfriend..." She managed as she swallowed.

"How'd you two meet?"

"He saved my life." She said, trying to keep from remembering the hundreds of times "her" Jack O'Neill had pulled her ass out of the fire.

"He's good like that."

"Yes, he is." She agreed.

"When did you meet?"

"Only a few months before I accepted the position at St. Paul's."

"And you started dating..." He prompted.

"When we ran into one another at Barnes and Noble a few weeks into my professorship."

Silence reigned for a moment before she gathered up her courage. "I know what it's like, you know."

"What what's like?"

"What it's like for your dad to date after your mom dies."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "My mom died when I was fifteen. And my dad died when I was thirty-six. Believe me, my dad dated."

"Did he ever date your professor?"

She shook her head. "No." She admitted.

"Then, pardon me if I don't think you can relate."

She inhaled deeply. "Look, I don't want to replace your mom. I just want to see your dad happy, and I have a feeling that's what you want too."

He studied her somewhat skeptically.

"I know I already have two strikes against me." She admitted. "I'm not your mom, but I'm dating your dad, and I'm your professor."

He nodded slowly.

"But I'd like to be your friend." She said, sincerely. "After all, I'm not going to be your professor forever."

He sighed softly as he looked over at his dad who still stood in line. "My dad's never been on more than one date with a woman since my mom died."

Sam swallowed, looking over at Jack herself.

"She was the love of his life."

"I know." Sam said, looking over at Charlie seriously. "She was a good woman."

His brow furrowed. "You knew my mom too?"

Sam swallowed as she realized her slip. "I met her once. A lifetime ago." She bit the inside of her cheek. "She loved you a lot, and she loved your dad a lot."

Charlie swallowed down his own tears as he looked up at her. "Yeah, she did."

"I'm not Sara." She said, seriously. "But I care about your dad. A lot. And I can tell how much your disapproval of our relationship hurts him."

Charlie nodded slowly. "Tell Dad I had to get to class?"

"Are you sure you can't stay?"

"I need to think about some things." He admitted.

"I'll tell him." She said, seriously.

"Thanks." He said, standing.

"No problem." She said, sincerely.

Jack approached the table with a tray in his hands. "Where'd Charlie go?"

"He had class." She said, looking over at him.

"He couldn't stay to talk to me about this?"

She touched his hand as he sat beside her. "Give him some space. It's hard."

He looked at her, somewhat surprised.

"I told you. My mom died when I was fifteen. My dad died when I was thirty-six. I have some experience with the Dad-dating world."

"Ah." He said, nodding.

"He just wants you to be happy." She said, softly. "And he has to decide if he thinks I do that for you."

"You do." He said, looking over at her as she played with a few stray strands of his hair.

She gave him an affectionate smile. "And you make me happy, Jack. Not an easy feat these days."

"But always a pleasure."

She smiled softly as she leaned in to kiss him again.

A scream interrupted them, and Sam looked over instinctively trying to determine what had happened and render assistance where it was needed.

A flash caught her by surprise as a woman's voice cried out again. "IT'S SAMANTHA CARTER!"


	10. Reporters

There was a knock on the door to Sam's house, and Sam inhaled as she looked at Jack. "Major Stringham has plans to come and do some damage control." She reminded. "But I don't want to get that if it's just another reporter..."

"Let me see who it is." Jack said, touching her arm gently, as he walked over to look through the peephole.

"Dr. Foss, it's Major Stringham from the Air Force! Open up!" Stringham announced from the other side.

"Open it." Sam said, nodding.

He inhaled, opening and closing the door quickly so that only the Major could get through.

Sam noticed instantly how disheveled Stringham's appearance seemed as she stood in the entry for a moment. "That...was a nightmare." She finally announced.

"We hear ya." Jack said, taking the woman's jacket from her.

"Just so that I know what I have to do to fix this – what did you do?"

"Do?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrows.

"What did you say? And to whom did you say it?"

"We were on a lunch date," Sam explained, trying to remain at least somewhat calm. "I leaned over to kiss my boyfriend – whose son had just given us what-for because he didn't want his father dating – and suddenly, all hell breaks loose and they've taken a picture of me."

Stringham looked over at where Jack sat on the couch, and he nodded affirmatively. She sighed before she looked back at Sam. "Do you have a study or an office where I can make a phone call?"

Sam nodded. She pulled one arm from where they'd been folded across her chest and pointed down the hall. "Second door on the right."

"Thank you." The Major said, nodding as she hurried out.

Jack looked over at Sam. "C'mere." He invited, motioning to the seat beside him.

"I feel like I'm a freak of nature," she admitted as she sat down beside him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, comfortingly.

"You're not a freak of nature." He assured.

"Living out the rest of my days in an alternate timeline from the one I was born in?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's not natural."

"Helene, everything happens for a reason. That's something I've learned from this relationship. If you hadn't been Charlie's professor, I would never have seen you again, and we wouldn't be sitting right here. I wouldn't be here to tell you that everything's going to be all right."

She managed a small half-smile. "That's true."

"And I promise – everything's going to be all right."

"How do you know?"

"I know because these kinds of stories last a week. If they're really juicy, they last a month. But there's nothing juicy about a math professor who just happens to look like a dead astronaut. I give it a day."

"You think?" She asked, heart lightening.

He nodded.

"Is it too late to dye my hair brown and pick up an English accent?" She teased as she leaned her cheek on his shoulder.

He chuckled as Stringham returned.

"What?" Sam asked, noting the expression on her face.

"They want you on Oprah."

Sam paled. "Excuse me?"

"The Air Force made arrangements for you to go on Oprah and dispell the rumors that you are Samantha Carter."

"Are you kidding?" She demanded in shock. "I can't dispell the rumors that I'm Samantha Carter because I AM SAMANTHA CARTER!"

"Helene, breathe." Jack reminded gently as he rubbed her back tenderly.

"Stop calling me that." She said, pulling away from him in utter annoyance.

She stood with a sigh, looking at both Air Force officers. "Look, I need to be alone, okay?"

Stringham nodded as Jack stood slowly. Sam could see how much he wanted to kiss her and tell her that everything would turn out all right, but he didn't out of respect for her desire to be alone. "I'll call you tomorrow." He said after a moment.

She nodded slowly. "Okay."

They both walked toward the front door, and Sam sighed. "You should take the back door. You probably won't have as many people out there."

They turned with sober nods as they followed her suggestion. They walked out the door, and Sam sighed as she looked at the clock. The sudden realization that she'd never made it back for her afternoon classes made her pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration. She just couldn't catch a break today.


	11. Comfort

The cell phone vibrated the next morning, causing Sam to look up from her bowl of Froot Loops. Reporters were still camped out on her lawn, she couldn't check her email without seeing something about "Samantha Carter – Dead or Alive", and she still had to go on Oprah. She sighed softly as she reached for the phone. She didn't want to talk to anyone unless it was the President, calling to tell her that she could go home.

The caller ID read "Jack O'Neill", and she managed an uncomfortable smile. He'd told her that he would call, and if she didn't answer it, he'd probably take it personally. Especially with how she'd exploded at him the day before. She set down her spoon and finished swallowing before she opened the phone. "Hi, Jack."

"Hi." He greeted, soberly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she said with a small sigh.

"Reporters still there?"

"Yeah." She admitted. "But on the plus side, the President of the college, himself, called to let me off work until this can all get resolved. He said he'd have a TA handle my classes until I got back."

"He's probably loving the publicity. Makes the college that much further forward in people's minds when their kids are looking at going to college."

"Exactly."

They lapsed into an awkward silence, and Sam bit the inside of her cheek. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Nothing to apologize for."

"Yes, there is." She insisted. "You've been great during this whole thing. You pushed the reporters out of my face, you drove me home, you stayed until I asked you to leave...and I yelled at you. I shouldn't have done that."

"You were stressed, Helene."

She sighed at his use of her cover name. "Yes...yes, I was..."

"Have they gotten you out of the Oprah interview yet?"

"I don't think they're even trying," she admitted.

"That's too bad." He sympathized. "But there are worse things, right?"

She tensed as she revealed the reason she was most afraid of the television appearance. "Like bringing my father and brother onto the show to verify that I can't possibly be who they think I am."

"Yeah..." He said after a moment of contemplation. "Like that..."

Her eyes stung with tears that wished to fall. "I don't..." She began, vulnerably as the tears began to slip down her cheeks. "I don't want to hurt them...like that..."

"Do you want me to come over?" He asked, softly.

"I'm not sure that would be best...not with all of the reporters..."

"I'll get past them. Do you want me to come?"

"I'd love it." She admitted after a moment.

"I'll be there in a few." He promised.

"Thank you," she whispered, gratefully.

"Always." He said as he hung up.

She tensed as she thought back to the last time "her" Jack had said that to her.

_"Thank you, Sir."_

_"For what?"_

_"For being here for me."_

_"Always."_

She felt the tears slip down her cheeks more rapidly in memory of "her" Jack and also in memory of her father, who had died shortly thereafter.

She was still crying a few minutes later, when Jack arrived. Without a word, he gathered her into his arms and held her as she mourned her lost life.


	12. Oprah

Sam inhaled sharply as she waited backstage to be introduced to the awaiting audience.

"Most of you know that over the last few days, it has been somewhat unclear whether or not Mission Commander Samantha Carter actually survived the mission. As most of you know, no body was actually recovered from the crash site, which is the basis for most of the speculation. Today, we have the woman who was photographed in St. Paul, Minnesota last week."

There was applause as Sam was shoved out onto the stage, dressed in a nondescript blue suit and pumps.

She managed an uncomfortable and nervous smile as she shook hands with Oprah, and sat down in the chair.

"It's nice to have you on the show, Dr. Foss."

"It's nice to be here," she said, forcing a smile to her lips.

"So, can you introduce yourself to the audience?" She asked, curiously.

"I'd love to. My name is Helene Foss. I have a doctorate in Mathematics from UCLA, and I currently teach general education mathematics at St. Paul College in Minnesota."

"As I'm sure you know, Mission Commander Samantha Carter was killed four years ago when the space shuttle _Intrepid_ experienced technical difficulties."

Sam nodded. "The main engines failed to shug down before it could reach a safe orbit or a secondary landing site. It was reported that the autopilot also failed, forcing Samantha Carter to stay behind in order to fly it. I watched the news like everyone else."

"Then, you also know that a body was never recovered."

"Yes." She said, nodding. "And ever since, people who don't know me personally have been mistaking me for her."

"Is there any chance that you are Samantha Carter?"

Sam shook her head as she sighed silently. "No."

"How is it that you can have such a resemblance to her without actually being her?" Oprah asked, curiously.

"Well, I guess it's a fluke of genetics." She shrugged. "Sometimes, you find someone who's very distantly related to you who seems to match almost all of your description."

She looked into the audience, grateful to see Jack and Charlie there, offering her the silent support that she needed. She was suddenly grateful for how well Jack and Sara had raised the young man. The moment the media had begun hounding her, he'd stepped up and become as supportive as his father.

"You have to admit, Dr. Foss, that your personal history is a little jumbled. A little difficult to piece together before earlier this year, in fact."

Sam tensed. "I was working as a consultant with the Navy on a few projects. I guess they weren't too keen on having other people know what I'd been doing."

"And what were you doing?"

"If I were to tell you, I'd be breaking confidentiality clauses." She said, seriously.

"Well, we have to break to commercial," Oprah said, turning back to the camera. "But when we come back, we'll continue talking to Dr. Helene Foss – the virtual twin sister to Mission Commander Samantha Carter."

Sam sighed in relief as the cameras moved away from her slightly. A moment later, she spotted Stringham in the wings, wearing a very serious expression on her face. Once again, Sam realized that if this failed, she could be facing some serious consequences.

She looked back at Jack who offered her a supportive smile. I love you, he mouthed.

She returned his smile with a shaky one of her own.

The next few moments passed too quickly, and the cameras zoomed back in on Oprah. "Today, we have Dr. Helene Foss from St. Paul College, who is the woman that was mistaken for Mission Commander Samantha Carter last week." Oprah turned back to Sam. "On the off-chance that you are the woman you claim not to be," she began. "We invited a few guests onto the show."

Sam tensed as Oprah turned to introduce them. "Major Mark Carter of the United States Air Force," she began.

Sam gaped as she saw her brother walk onto the stage in dress blues.

"His wife, Maggie, and their two-year-old son, Jacob."

This was wrong. All wrong. Mark had become an accountant. He'd married Lisa, his high school sweetheart. They had three kids now: Matt, Kimberly, and Ashley.

Mark approached her, and she stood. He extended his hand, somewhat coldly, and she shook it.

"Finally, we have one more guest."

Sam looked behind her as she finished shaking Maggie's hand. Here came her dad.

"Commander Samantha Carter's mother, Thea."

Sam's eyes watered as she saw the woman walk on stage. Twenty-three years of fine lines and wrinkles had been added to her face, but it was her. Standing before her was her mother.

"Sammie?" The older woman asked, staring at her.

"I'm..." She struggled, trying to keep her composure as she stared into the face of the woman she'd most loved and admired in all of her life. "So sorry for your loss."

-

Sam was silent as they rode from the studio back to the hotel.

"It must have been hard to see Commander Carter's family," Charlie said, softly, as he looked over at his father's girlfriend.

She looked over as she inhaled. "Yeah."

"Did her mom make you miss yours?" He asked, conversationally.

"Charlie..." His father scolded gently as he noticed the tears which Sam struggled to hide.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"It's okay, Jack." She whispered, touching his knee gently. She looked over at Charlie. "Yes, I missed my mom when I saw her. I wished for a moment that I'd been her daughter and that she'd been my mother because...then...we might not be as broken inside as we feel."

Jack squeezed her gently as he leaned over to kiss the top of her head. "I'm so sorry you had to do that," he whispered, gently.

She managed a grateful smile despite her tears. "I'm just glad I had you to help me through it."

"I love you, Helene." He assured. "Nothing could change that now."

"I love you too, Jack." She whispered as she leaned in to kiss him tenderly. With all of her memories of the other Jack, it was this Jack who counted now. It was this Jack who was wiping away her tears, and it was this Jack who was holding her tightly when she needed a hug.


	13. Froot Loops

"I didn't know what you'd want for breakfast," Jack said as he walked into her hotel room the next morning with a plate of food. "I know you didn't want to see anyone with all of the hullaballoo, so I got you an assortment of things. Just let me know if there's anything different that you want, and I'll send Charlie down."

The plate carried a Danish, a muffin, toast, yogurt, oatmeal, a couple of hard-boiled eggs, and even a section of a Belgian waffle.

"This is great," she said with a grateful smile.

"You want something different, don't you?" He said, seriously.

She bit her lip, somewhat nervously. "I know it's strange, but...Froot Loops...they're like my comfort food..."

"Then, Froot Loops, it is." He announced as he knocked on the door to the adjoining room. "Hey, Charlie!"

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Get some Froot Loops from downstairs, huh?"

"No problem, Dad."

"He's a good kid." Sam said, looking over at her boyfriend with a tender smile.

"I think I'll keep him," he teased, goodnaturedly.

"Do you think you'd ever want any more kids?" She asked, spontaneously.

"Right now?" He asked with a chuckle. "I don't think we're serious enough for that."

She gave him a chagrined smile as she shook her head. "No, I mean...someday..."

"Well, it'd be a little weird with Charlie all grown up..."

"But..."

"But yeah," he said, nodding. "With the right woman and at the right time, I'd love to have more kids."

She nodded, slowly processing his answer.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Do you want kids?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Sure. Who doesn't?"

He studied her for a moment, and she shrugged. "With my old life...kids was kind of...impractical."

"It was never supposed to be convenient." He said with an amused smile.

She chuckled appreciatively before she bit her lip. "I was engaged to a guy once...he was a cop, and he wanted kids, a dog...and I couldn't help but wonder who would pick the kids up from daycare if I was on assignment on another world. Who would feed the dog if something happened to Pete and I couldn't get home because I was in trouble too?"

"They're called neighbors." Jack teased, gently.

She smiled, recognizing the same sense of humor in this Jack that had existed in the one from her timeline. "I guess all of my excuses for why I shouldn't have kids are gone if I'm stuck in this timeline."

"Stuck..." He said, his face falling.

"No, no...I didn't mean it that way..." She said, realizing how badly she'd made him feel.

"Then what way did you mean it?" He asked with a sigh.

"Jack, this isn't the way things are supposed to be...this isn't the way the world is supposed to be."

"And what way is it supposed to be, Helene?" He demanded, angrily. "I've put up with this melancholy attitude of yours for months! I've been giving and giving and giving, and it's like pulling teeth to get you to really see me for who I am."

She tensed as she looked down at the floor in shame.

"What's wrong about a world where my son isn't dead? Where your mother didn't die in a car accident? And where the world doesn't need saving every damn day?"

She looked up at him with a look of supreme hurt, and he sighed as he noticed it. "Sometimes, Helene, when I kiss you, I can feel that you're not kissing me. You're kissing the other Jack. The other O'Neill. And for a while, I thought I was okay with that. But now..."

There was a knock on the door. "Froot Loops," Charlie called.

"Just a sec," Jack returned. He looked back at Sam whose eyes were stinging with tears. "Look, maybe we need a break. Figure out whether or not we actually want this."

She swallowed as he turned and opened the door. "Thanks, Charlie." He said, accepting the bowl and milk carton from his son. He set them on the dresser, opening his mouth to speak before he closed it again and walked back toward the door.

Sam closed her eyes as the hot tears stung her eyes. "Damn it," she whispered, angrily. What could she do to fix this?

"He ate Froot Loops for breakfast," she whispered. "Not oatmeal like you."

Jack paused.

"He watched the Simpsons and anything with Mary Steenburgen or Uma Thurman in it in his spare time," she continued slowly. "He didn't read classic literature like you do. For heaven's sake, he fished in a pond that didn't have any fish in it!"

He turned slowly as tears slipped down her cheeks. "He saved my life too many times for me to even remember. And he was always there for me."

Jack sighed, turning back to the door.

"But we could never have what you and I have." She continued. "He was my commanding officer, and as much as we didn't want to admit that affected our relationship, it did. We'd spent so many years hiding our relationship, if you could even call it that, from anyone that we may never have been able to truly be together like you and I have been together."

She bit her lip as he turned back around to face her with a monocle of distrust in his eyes.

"And having Charlie in your life has changed our relationship even further." He moved to leave again, and she quickly continued. "For the better, Jack."

She took a few steps toward him, almost hesitantly. "I'm sorry I made you feel like I thought that your world was inferior." She swallowed. "It's not, Jack. There are a lot of things about this world that I love even more than the things in my world. Like the fact that my mother is alive. Like the fact that Charlie is in college, and on a track for success."

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"The problem is that this world, as wonderful as it is, is unfamiliar to me. And I know who made this happen. He thinks he's a god, and for the last ten years of my life, I have undone everything he has done. That's why I have difficulty accepting these seets of circumstances as a good thing. That's why sometimes, I feel...stuck."

By now, she was standing near him, and she reached a hand out to his face. "But this world has given me something my world could never give me. You. With all of your similarities, you're not the same Jack O'Neill that died before I could come out here. And maybe I'll keep eating froot loops because he was a big part of my life for ten years, but I hope we can still keep this...relationship going. Because you were right on our first date. I do get scared, and I screw things up because I get scared. And it's time that I realized what I have in front of me is pretty terrific."

He stood there, without a reaction or a word, for several moments, and she tensed nervously.

"What are the Simpsons?" He finally asked.

She grinned as she realized he'd forgiven her. "I'll tell you all about them over breakfast, hm?" She said with a grateful and amused smile at his joke.

"And...Uma Thurman?" He asked as she picked up the plate of breakfast items and sat on the bed.

"Don't go there." She said, shaking her head, teasingly.

"You okay in this world with this Air Force Colonel?" He asked, more soberly.

"Better than okay, Jack." She assured as she placed a gentle hand on his chest and leaned in to kiss him softly. "Way better than okay."


	14. Christmas Shopping

_Several months later:_

Sam walked down the snow-covered sidewalks of Minneapolis, dressed in a long woolen coat, thick scarf, anklet boots, and leather gloves. It felt like Christmas with the wreaths lining the streets, and the holiday displays in the storefront windows.

Now, if only she could figure out what she should get Jack for Christmas...

An unusual store sign caught her attention, and she stepped closer to the display. Rare and Antique Books, she read. She hesitated for a moment before she stepped into the store.

"Can I help you find something?" The elderly cashier asked, looking over at her.

"Maybe." She said, thoughtfully. "I'm looking for a present for my boyfriend..."

"What sort of things is he interested in?"

"Books..." She laughed. "Which is why I'm here."

"Any particular author?"

Sam inhaled. "Well, um, I know he likes the classics...and when he asked me out for the first time, I bought a Sherlock Holmes anthology at his suggestion."

"I have a first-edition "Hound of the Baskervilles" in stock right now." The cashier said with a grin.

Her eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"Yep."

"Can I see it?" She asked with a thoughtful smile.

"I thought you'd never ask." He said with a grin as he led her to the back of the store.

She inspected the book for a moment before she looked back up at him. "Now, do you have any ideas for his twenty-year-old son?" She asked with a wry chuckle.

"I'm not a miracle worker." He laughed.

"This is great." She said with a grateful smile as she pulled out her wallet to pay for the book. "This is perfect."

She walked out of the bookstore with her gift for Jack in hand as her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" She asked, opening the cell phone so that she could answer the call.

"Hey, gorgeous."

She grinned. "Hi, Jack."

"What are you doing right now?"

"Shopping."

"For me?"

"As a matter of fact," she said with a grin.

"Hm...let me guess...it's...a week with me at the cabin with all the back rubs a guy could want!"

She laughed softly. "That was a given."

"Woohoo!"

"Any suggestions for what I should get for Charlie?" She asked after a moment.

"Um...no. When you figure it out, let me know, okay?"

She laughed. "Really?"

"That kid is so hard to shop for!" Jack insisted. "He gets that from his mother."

She smiled. "You're not so easy to shop for, you know," she teased.

"What? Me?" He asked, innocently.

"Yes, you." She teased. "But I managed."

"There's nothing you can't do," he said, knowingly.

"Well, who knows? In another lifetime, I may have...blown up a sun...or something..." She laughed. "Gives me a false sense of security."

"Nothing so false if you managed to get me a present." He said, affectionately. "I hear I'm hard to shop for."

She smiled. "What about you, Jack?"

"I'm wanting to have dinner with my favorite girlfriend."

"Oh, do you have more than one?"

"Well...I'm very charming..."

She shook her head. "I'm in Minneapolis, and I'd love to meet you for dinner."

"Great. Maybe we can help each other shop for Charlie's Christmas presents."

"Sounds like a plan."

"So, Jack, now that you know I got you something for Christmas..." Sam prodded, gently.

"Uh-uh." He said, shaking his head. "Don't even think about it."

"Don't think about what?"

"I'm not telling you what I got you for Christmas."

"I just wondered if you had anything yet..."

"It's a week away, Helene! Of course, I have something!"

"You don't have anything, do you?" She said with a knowing smile.

"I...I..."

"You want to go shopping so that I'll give you some hints, don't you?"

"May...be..." He admitted.

She shook her head as she unlocked her car door and hid the gift in her briefcase. "Where should I meet you tonight?"

"How about the Barnes and Noble where we first had coffee?"

"You're on." She said with a grin. "When?"

"I'm on my way into the city right now. I think I can be there in fifteen minutes."

"I'll meet you then." She said with a grin.

-

She sat at the cafe table with a cup of coffee in her hand, and another sitting on the table in front of her as she read one of the magazines that had taken her by surprise. Rodney McKay – a dot com billionaire in this timeline, like in the other reality she'd visited only a few months previously – was marrying Angelina Jolie in the South of France over the holiday.

She shook her head in disbelief.

"What's got the pretty lady so dubious about the entertainment industry?"

Sam looked up with a small smile as she saw Jack standing above her. "I knew this guy." She said, offering him the coffee as she pointed to the picture. "He was an astrophysicist. Who, uh...had a bit of a crush on me..."

"Well, now he's got...Angelina Jolie..."

She turned a raised eyebrow to him.

"And I got the best-looking woman in the universe." He said, affectionately, as he sat down across from her.

"Nice come-back." She teased.

"Thank you, thank you..." He smiled.

She set the magazine aside and took another sip of her coffee. "I got the holiday blend. Thought it would be appropriate given the season."

He took a sip. "Yep. Tastes like Christmas."

She chuckled appreciatively. "Where should we start?"

"Well, Charlie likes sports and space..."

She nodded. "I know."

"Do you have any ideas?"

She shrugged. "I don't know...does he like video games or television shows?"

"Video games...we can do sports AND space!"

"Sounds great." Sam chuckled.

"Cool." He said with a grin. "I'll get him some things later. Ready for dinner?"

"Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"Somewhere nearby. So we can have a romantic stroll through the snow." He said, wiggling his eyebrows at her goodnaturedly.

She grinned. "Sounds great."

He reached for her hand as they walked out of the bookstore with coffee in their hands.

"I love this time of year," Sam admitted as she huddled closer to him.

"Me too." He agreed, looking over at her affectionately.

She turned upward and kissed him, gently.

He smiled after a moment before he looked over at the window display. "Hey...come on," he invited, pulling her toward the display window.

"What are we looking at?" She asked, curiously.

He pointed at the glittering jewelry in the window. "You like anything?"

She tensed as she looked over at him. "Uh..."

"The necklaces..."

"Oh." She said with a small sigh. "I was...never mind..."

"I wouldn't bring you to look at rings." He said with a chuckle. "When I ask you to marry me, you'll have no idea it's coming."

She smiled softly before she realized he'd used the word "when". Oh boy, she thought to herself. Yet, she realized almost instantly, the thought of marrying this Jack O'Neill was not entirely unwelcome.

He noticed her faint half-smile. "What? You see something you like?"

"Yeah. You." She whispered with a grin as she leaned over to kiss him.


	15. Fishing

_March of the next year:_

Sam sat at her desk, checking another batch of math assignments, when a knock on the door interrupted her efforts. She looked over to find Charlie standing in the doorway. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"Nothing I didn't want interrupted." She chuckled. "Come on in."

He smiled as he sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the desk from where she sat.

"How are you?" She asked, sitting back in her chair.

"Fine." He said, nodding.

"Classes going well?"

He nodded again. "Yeah. I've got an astronomy class this semester. It's hard, but I like it."

"Let me know if you need any help."

His brow furrowed, and she shrugged. "I"m kind of a closet astronomer."

"Ah." He said, nodding. "Well, between you and my dad, I should get an A in the class."

She chuckled. "Yep. Your dad doesn't have a telescope on his roof just to look at the neighbors, after all."

"Well...he doesn't look at the neighbors ALL the time..."

Sam laughed appreciatively. "What can I do for you?"

"My dad and I are going fishing this weekend..."

"Oh? Your dad didn't tell me..."

He nodded. "We're just going to be at the cabin, but I thought maybe you could come with us."

"As long as your dad doesn't have a problem with it." Sam said with a shrug.

"He won't." Charlie said, shaking his head. "My dad's crazy about you."

Sam grinned. "I'm crazy about him too."

Charlie sobered, and Sam looked over somewhat concerned. "What's going on?"

He bit his lip. "Look...my dad's getting pretty serious about you, and I...I don't want to see him get hurt."

"I know. I don't want to see him get hurt either." She said, seriously.

"As long as we're on the same page."

"We've been there since we first talked about me dating your dad." She assured.

"Good." He breathed with a relieved sigh.

"How serious?" She asked after a moment.

Charlie looked at her evenly. "I...think he's got a ring..."

Sam tensed. "Ah."

"I don't know when he's planning on popping the question..."

"I've been expecting something like that since Christmas. He took me by a jewelry store and said I wouldn't expect it when he proposed..."

"And Dad doesn't use words lightly."

"Exactly."

"I should probably welcome you to the family, then."

"It's okay for this to be weird," she said, softly.

"It's not, actually."

"Really?" She asked with a strange look.

"It's just this...feeling like it's...meant to be somehow..."

Flashes of the various Samantha Carter and Jack O'Neill couples she'd met through the years plagued her vision for a moment.

"What?" Charlie asked, noticing her far-off look.

"Nothing." She said, shaking her head. "Just remembered something..."

"Ah."

"So. Fishing this weekend?"

He nodded.

"And you don't mind me crashing your party?"

"Of course not. You're gonna be my stepmom if Dad has his way."

"I promise not to be evil," she teased as they stood.

"Thank you. That makes me feel much better." He laughed appreciatively.

"You're a good kid, Charlie." She said with a smile.

"I try." He said with his father's grin as he walked out the door.


	16. The Cabin

Sam smiled softly as she reached Jack's cabin where her boyfriend sat on the porch. She'd driven to the cabin straight from work, and hoped that she looked half as good now as she'd looked that morning. He waved at her as she parked, and she grinned before she returned the gesture.

She stepped out of the car as he stood. "Charlie told me about your fishing trip," she explained.

"I know. He told me after he told you, and then...promptly backed out."

"What?" She asked with a chuckle as she reached into the back for her overnight bag.

"Yep. I think I've got a matchmaker on my hands." He said, taking the bag from her.

"I think we have his approval." She beamed as she leaned in to kiss his lips gently.

"That's a good thing, I think."

"I tend to agree with you." She said as he led her inside.

"You like fishing?"

"Actually?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, I do."

"A woman after my own heart."

"After all these months?" She teased. "You'd better find me after your own heart."

He grinned as he opened the door for her.

"Thank you." She said, stepping into the cabin.

"I like your necklace," he said with a small smile as he looked at the journey-style diamond and sapphire necklace she wore around her neck.

"I like the man who gave it to me," she teased as she smiled at him.

He shrugged, modestly.

"I have a fishing pole in my car if you want to start fishing." She said, seriously.

"Nah." He said, shaking his head. "We'll start at five tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir." She teased as she leaned in and kissed him. "What are your plans for tonight?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I thought maybe we'd have a fire, a drink or two, maybe some dinner..."

She grinned. "Sounds perfect."

"Glad to hear it." He said with a smile as he revealed the wine glasses.

"Feeling sure of yourself, are you?" She laughed.

"I had a feeling you'd feel okay about the nice relaxing night at the cabin."

"It's very romantic." She said with a faint smile.

"That's what I was going for."

She tensed as she wondered if he wasn't preparing for a proposal.

"You okay?"

"Fine." She assured, seriously. "So, you said something about a fire?"

He nodded. "Yep. Sit down on the couch, and I'll get it started."

She did as he asked, sipping at her wine as she watched him.

The fire roared before he returned to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"This is nice," she murmured as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I was hoping you'd say that," he admitted after a moment.

She looked up at him, curiously. "Why wouldn't I?"

"No reason," he said with a small chuckle before he inhaled and reached into his pocket. "Helene?"

"Hm?"

"I have a question to ask you," he said, softly.

She looked over at his hand, now bearing the solitaire diamond ring in his fingers.

She inhaled sharply.

"Helene Foss, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife."

She looked over at his face after a moment of surprise before she swallowed. "I..." She began, looking back at the ring. "I...I can't."

His eyes widened in surprise as she stood. "I have to go," she mumbled as she hurried out of the cabin.

Still somewhat shocked, Jack sat there as he heard her car engine begin.


	17. Attack

Sam sighed as she walked through the grocery store. She'd said 'no' to Jack O'Neill's proposal of marriage. And he'd called her several times, trying to figure out what had happened.

A woman passed her, taking a long look at her face. She closed her eyes in defeat as she picked up a box of Froot Loops, looking at the nutritional value for a moment.

What are you doing, Sam? She asked herself. They're Froot Loops.

She sighed again, and let the box slip out of her fingers and into the cart.

Her cell phone vibrated, and she looked at the caller ID. Jack O'Neill.

She inhaled sharply as she closed her eyes. The pain of her guilt coursed over her once again. She finally opened her eyes and finished her shopping.

Only a few moments later, she was putting her groceries in the back of the car.

The all-too familiar hum of goa'uld engines caused her to look up into the sky. Sure enough, there was an alk'esh.

Jumping into action as Samantha Carter, the astrophysicist Lieutenant Colonel, she reached for her phone and called Major Stringham. Now was her chance.

-

The drive from Cheyenne Mountain to the airstrip was far quieter than Sam had suspected it would be. After all, she'd only spoken once to Daniel in the last year, and never to Mitchell. She would have thought that there would have been a lot more to talk about.

"I saw you on Oprah." Cam admitted after a few moments of awkward silence in the car.

Sam tensed as Daniel's brow furrowed. "Huh?"

"Last year, someone sent Sam's picture to the National Enquirer. Someone tipped Oprah off, and she had this "unravel the mystery" episode..."

"The Air Force." Sam mumbled.

"Huh?"

"The Air Force tipped them off. They wanted to keep the tabloid-thing from happening again."

"So what happened?"

"They invited the Carters onto the show to talk to Sam." Mitchell continued.

Daniel's eyes widened as Sam tried to keep from tearing up.

"What did Jacob say?"

"He wasn't there." Sam said, softly. "He'd died in 1998. Of leukemia. Like he would have if he hadn't gotten Selmak."

"So, what did Mark say?"

Sam felt a single tear slip down her cheek.

"That wasn't the problem." Cam said, looking over at Daniel.

"Who else could it have been?" Daniel asked, puzzled.

"My mom." Sam managed, thickly.

Daniel gasped. "Damn."

Sam closed her eyes as she wiped the tears slipping down her cheeks. She wanted to go home.

A few moments after her tears had dried, her phone vibrated, and she pulled it from her pocket to look at the caller ID. Jack O'Neill.

She sighed softly as she pressed a button to ignore the call. He was probably worried sick about her with all of the chaos that Ba'al's alk'esh had instigated, but she couldn't talk to him. Not now.

"Who was that?" Daniel asked, conversationally.

"Nobody." She said, looking straight ahead.

"Nobody...as in...a boyfriend?" Mitchell prodded.

"I'd rather not talk about it." She said, looking over at them.

"It's a boyfriend." Daniel said, nodding as Mitchell turned a knowing look to the one-legged archaeologist.

Sam sighed heavily.

"Trouble with boyfriend?" Cam asked, looking over at her.

"Am I the only one who remembers that we have a mission?" She asked, pointedly.

Daniel studied her closely. She had only ever gotten so defensive about one relationship. "It's Jack O'Neill, isn't it? You're dating Jack O'Neill."

Cam's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

Sam swallowed. "Can we not talk about this, please?"

"That's what I thought," Daniel said, softly as he prepared to drop the subject.

"Wait...Sam, you're dating General O'Neill."

"Colonel O'Neill." She corrected. "And he asked me to marry him the other night."

"To which you said..."

Daniel nudged the audacious Lieutenant Colonel. "If she'd said yes, do you really think she'd ignore his call right now?" He hissed.

"Oh..." He said as realization dawned on him. "But if she'd said no, would he really have called?"

"Even I didn't know I was going to say 'no'." She sighed, realizing that they wouldn't leave her alone until they knew the whole story. "I think he's worried about me."

"What's the problem? You're on Earth all the time, and the guy you're in love with wants to marry you?" Mitchell asked, looking over her somewhat confused.

"He's not calling you Carter..." Daniel said, knowingly.

Sam swallowed. "It wasn't so bad in the beginning, you know? I only had to be Helene Foss for a few hours, and then we'd go our separate ways, and I could go back to being Samantha Carter."

"But..."

"But then, a few hours turned into a few days, and now...if we get married, he's going to expect Helene Foss all the time."

"I'm sure he'll understand."

"Do you remember the line in _Romeo and Juliet_ that goes "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet..."?"

The men nodded.

"It's not true." She said, shaking her head. "Helene Foss is...a...mathematics professor who likes lilies and mountain biking and fishing. She's dating Jack O'Neill who loves her for all of those things. But Samantha Carter...feels guilty that she's so grateful Ba'al has finally attacked Earth because now, she doesn't have to break up with the man of her dreams."

The other two were silent now, allowing her the quiet time that she required to mourn her lost relationship.

-

Jack O'Neill sighed as he hung up the phone.

"Dad?" Charlie asked from where he sat in his father's living room.

"She's either not answering because of the proposal, or she's been recalled." He said, walking into the living room.

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked, confused.

He slowly sat down in the easy chair. "Do you remember what you told me when you first came home from your math class?"

"Yeah. That my teacher looked like the dead astronaut, Samantha Carter."

"She looked like Samantha Carter because...that's who she was." He said with a small sigh.

"What?" Charlie asked, perplexed.

"I found her and two men in the Arctic when we were runing that training exercise a year ago." He said, pain lining his features as he told the story. "They said they were part of a team from an alternate timeline. One in which you'd died after you shot yourself, and I'd become a part of their team."

Charlie's eyes widened. "Another lifetime..." He whispered, suddenly understanding what Sam had said about meeting his mother.

"The President didn't like what they wanted to do, and so he separated them. Flew them to three different parts of the country and gave them new identities."

"Helene Foss was her cover."

He nodded. "She wasn't allowed to go into astrophysics or any of the fields she'd actually been trained to go into, and so she applied to be a math professor."

"You knew who she was the minute I told you about her, didn't you?"

He nodded. "I asked her to remove you from her class, but she didn't want your reputation ruined. It admired that, and...when I ran into her a few weeks later, we sat down for coffee. That turned into a date which turned into two dates which turned into this..."

"Why do you think she said she wouldn't marry you?" Charlie asked, approaching the question cautiously. "I mean, I talked to her only a few days before that, and she seemed okay with the idea."

Jack thought for a moment before he answered softly. "Because she's not Helene Foss. She's Samantha Carter. And she hates pretending that she's not."

A sudden idea came to his mind, and he pulled out the phone. _I love you, Samantha Carter._ He typed into the cell phone screen before he sent the text message, hoping that the message would open the lines of communication again.

-

Samantha Carter stepped into the cockpit of her jet.

"Ready to go, Sam?"

She hesitated for a moment, unaware that in the hangar locker in which she'd placed her personal effects, her cell phone vibrated with the single text message which would have assuaged every doubt she had about marrying this particular Jack O'Neill.

"Ready." She finally managed. She was ready to go home.


	18. The End

Sam arrived on the other side of the gate, feeling some mixed feelings about the trip she'd just taken through the open wormhole. Samantha Carter was back, and she was starting to miss Helene Foss.

She sighed softly as she looked around her. She couldn't think about her latest failed relationship right now. She had a mission to do.

She stared at the platforms. Stargates and ring platforms working in tandem? She thought to herself as she looked around the cavern.

Mitchell's discussion with Teal'c was only marginally on her mind as she thought about Ba'al's plan as far as she knew it.

"Because, somewhere, deep down, you realize we're supposed to be on the same side." Mitchell tried to convince the Jaffa.

Teal'c aimed his zatnik'tel at the Lieutenant Colonel's head as Teal'c's Jaffa pointed weapons at both Daniel and Sam.

"Because we can offer you the freedom of your people." Sam finally blurted.

All eyes turned to her.

"Really?" Mitchell asked, surprised.

She swallowed. There was no turning back if she actually said what she was about to say. But now, there was no turning back period since if she didn't say this, she would most likely be dead, and she'd never get to live life with Jack O'Neill. In any timeline.

"This is Ba'al's failsafe." She said, looking over at Mitchell. "It has to be. I think this whole place is his time machine."

Her plan worked, and Teal'c deactivated his zat.

Daniel took a hesitant step toward the alternate version of his best friend. "Teal'c, you have to understand, in the timeline we just came from, the Goa'uld are defeated and the Jaffa are free. Now, Ba'al used a machine to go back in time and change all of that. He made you his First Prime and Qetesh his queen so he could control you."

"This is the secret for which Ba'al was murdered." Teal'c said in understanding.

"So that's why you think Qetesh is on her way here?" Mitchell said, surprised. "She wants to use this device for herself."

"That cannot be allowed to happen." Teal'c said, solemnly.

"See? We agree about everything." Mitchell exclaimed.

Sam tensed as she realized the gravity of what she was about to do. "Teal'c, if you let us use this device, we can return history to the way it was meant to be."

"The Goa'uld will be gone?"

She nodded slowly as she realized that Charlie, her mother, and the Jack O'Neill with whom she'd fallen in love, would all be gone as well.

"My people will be free?"

"You have our word." Daniel assured.

She tried to manage a supportive and confident smile as he looked at her and each of her team members somewhat skeptically.

"Let it be done." He finally commanded.

Without a second thought, she hurried to the control console. "It'll just take me a few minutes to figure out exactly how it works."

"That may be all the time we have." Teal'c said, seriously, as he handed Mitchell his machine gun. "By my reckoning, Qetesh will be here at any moment."

"Thank you."

Everyone crowded around her as they waited for her to tell them the object of the device's design.

"Well, you heard the man."

Sam nodded as she pressed a few buttons on the console. A holographic map of the galaxy appeared above them. "There must be satellites orbiting every one of these stars. There's hundreds of them, each sending real-time telemetry back to this computer through sub-space." Sam said with a sigh.

"Exactly how does that add up to a time machine?"

"They're looking for something specific." She said, continuing to press the buttons on the console as she tried to decipher Ba'al's engineering plan.

One of the stars grew as she pressed one of the buttons on the console, and she read the writing beside it. Was it true? Were they really looking for...

"Solar flares." Daniel murmured.

"Exactly." She said, looking over at Daniel. "'Until now, other than Ancient technology, the only way we know of traveling backward and forward through time is to pass through a wormhole as it intersects the magnetic field of a solar flare. Now with enough satellites and enough computing—"

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's brilliant." Mitchell interrupted. "Which button do we press?"

"Yeah, I think it's a little more complicated than that." Daniel said, allowing Sam to work.

"Actually, not much." She said as the sun disappeared from view. "We just need to choose a time and place sometime before Ba'al can put his plan into motion."

The ring platform activated, and Sam tensed.

"They are here." Teal'c said, stoically as he and his Jaffa prepared to fight.

"Sam." Mitchell whispered, urgently.

"Well, if you want to go back to the Cretaceous period, we can go right now," she snapped as her heart pounded more and more loudly in her ears with the pump of adrenaline. Did she have the right or the desire to erase this timeline? "Otherwise, we have to wait for a flare capable of sending us back to a time and place that's a little more useful."

She continued to do her work, trying to push her fear out of her mind.

If Jack was here, he would be able to buy her enough time to do her work, and somehow manage to allay her fears.

"Sam!" Daniel cried as he continued firing at the Jaffa.

She paused long enough to throw him her pistol which he was able to fire almost immediately as another sun appeared in front of her. "I've found one, but you're not going to like it!"

"Why not?" Mitchell yelled back to her as he continued fighting.

"It'll send us back to 1929." She announced.

"That's ten years too soon!" Mitchell cried.

"Well, it'll have to do," Daniel said, seriously. "Because I'm just about out of bullets—"

A staff blast hit Daniel in the abdomen, causing him to fall off the edge of the platform.

Sam gasped in surprise before she forced herself back to the console with vivid flashbacks to Jack's death a year earlier in another world. Another time.

Stop it, Helene, she told herself angrily. The realization that she'd just called herself Helene caused a knife-like pain to shoot through her heart. It was too late, she reminded herself.

"Once I dial the Stargate, we'll have less than twenty seconds to get through!" She announced, yelling back at Mitchell as she began dialing.

"Dial it up and get your ass down here!" He cried to her a fresh batch of Jaffa came on the ring platform.

She finally managed to finish the dialing as she felt the fire of a blast hit her back. "Jack," she murmured as she slumped against the console, lifelessly.

"Carter!" Mitchell cried as she clung to her final moments of life.

"No..." she murmured, deliriously. "It's...Helene..."

And with that, Helene Foss gave her life for the life Samantha Carter had missed for so long.


	19. Moon Base Plans

"Behold! The last of the System Lords!" The Tok'ra elder cried as he threw the tank to the floor, causing the glass to break. The symbiote slithered out of the tank, released an unearthly screech and then died.

"I guess that was worth seeing." Mitchell said, somewhat let down by the ceremony.

"What? That's all you have to say?" Daniel asked, surprised.

"Well, you guys made it out like it was this big deal. I expected something more spectacular." He said with a shrug.

"Nope." Jack said, shaking his head as Sam turned an appreciative to him. "That's pretty much the extraction ceremony, right there. Yup. So, lunch, anyone?"

Sam gave him a look when no one responded to his query. "I'm buying."

"I'm in." Mitchell said, suddenly interested.

"Actually, sir," Sam said, looking over at Jack with a sudden desire to change the last few years of their relationship. "I was hoping that we could go over the plans for the new moon base."

"What moon base?" He asked, confused.

"The one we talked about six years ago, and left in..."the room"..." She murmured under her breath. "You know...when the President came to visit the base, and we were facing certain death?"

"Ah. That one." He said, nodding in recognition of her discreet hint. Finally, he looked back at her. "What changed your mind?"

"You know?" She asked after a moment, shaking her head. "I don't know. Maybe it was the extraction ceremony."

"I'm not complaining." He said, offering her a grin.

She returned the grin. "Trust me, Jack, I noticed."

-

_This epilogue, though short, was added by popular demand. Happy holidays, loyal readers!_


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